After conquering hip-hop and Hollywood, Queen Latifah has now set her sights on the podcast game. The Hollywood shot caller and her business partner Shakim Compere just signed a first-look development deal with their production company Flavor Unit and Audible. The two companies will create a slate of audio-only original projects and the inaugural project will be “Streets, Rhymes & Sugar: A Hip-Hop Memoir” from entrepreneur and screenwriter Michael Elliot.
Elliott is known for penning the films Brown Sugar, Just Wright and Like Mike. This short-form Audible Original will be released on Aug. 5 and chronicle Elliot’s path from homeless teenager on the streets of Philadelphia to successful screenwriter. Also coming from Elliot is a scripted romantic comedy, “Technically Speaking,” about a single mom who falls for the founder of the big tech company she works for in Silicon Valley.
“We are so excited to collaborate with Audible on a collection of shows that will highlight different communities, community leaders and friends of mine. A common thread within all of these shows will be to share stories that bring hope and entertainment to those at home who’ve had a tough year,” the “Ladies First” hitmaker told Variety.
Other projects scheduled to be released under the deal so far include “Unity in the Community,” a seven-part episodic series from Queen Latifah. In the series, Latifah goes in search of good news and delivers it, focusing on community activists who are the glue that keep their neighborhoods together. Each 30-minute episode will profile an activist implementing a concrete plan that can be modeled in other communities.
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